Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Mon 7th September 2009 - 5:35 pm

The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.

You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are three simple ways:

1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there’s something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you’re an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or you’ve seen …

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The Voice

The Indy’s Q&A with Lembit

By The Voice | Mon 7th September 2009 - 2:15 pm

Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik is the subject of The Independent’s ‘You ask the questions’ feature today. In it he tells readers:

  • about his leadership aspirations (he has none);
  • how he thinks Nick Clegg is doing better as leader than Lembit thought he would be doing;
  • describes the Liberal brand as “public-service orientated, slightly left-leaning and suspicious of authority. We’re sort of courteously anti-establishment.”
  • his views on the Megrahi realease;
  • he favours research on the legalisation of the prescription of hard drugs;
  • he’s pleased to have the chance to write a politicla column for the Daily Sport.


    • You can read the     …

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    Posted in News | Tagged | 3 Comments
    The Voice

    Farron blasts as “ridiculous” Tory council’s refusal to protect allotments from vandals

    By The Voice | Sat 5th September 2009 - 5:45 pm

    The Mirror has the story:

    Gardeners are so furious with their council they feel like throwing in their trowels. The growers have been banned from using barbed wire to deter allotment vandals – in case they hurt themselves.

    Property at the Muddy Bottom East Allotment is being damaged up to three times a week. In one attack 15 sheds were smashed, water butts were overturned and taps were left running.

    But when allotment holders asked Southampton council to put up the wire, it said no for fear of being sued. … Lib Dem environment spokesman Tim Farron said the decision was “ridiculous”.

    Bizarrely,

    …

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    Posted in Local government and News | Tagged and | 8 Comments
    The Voice

    Nick and Paddy on Afghanistan

    By The Voice | Sat 5th September 2009 - 4:55 pm

    Yesterday saw Gordon Brown’s statement on the UK’s continuing involvement in Afghanistan, in which he defended the government’s strategy, and maintained its goals were “realistic and achievable”. It earned short shrift from Nick Clegg:

    The situation in Afghanistan is on a knife-edge. Yet today we have heard little in the way of fresh, new thinking from Gordon Brown. After pursuing an overambitious and under-resourced strategy for eight years it’s hard to believe that increasing the training of the Afghan police and army will now do the trick. We need a bolder change of strategy to turn things around. When it comes to Afghanistan, we need to do things properly or not at all.

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    Posted in News | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
    The Voice

    Video: Don’t let the Tories airbrush history

    By The Voice | Fri 4th September 2009 - 4:35 pm

    Last week the Conservatives produced a video about their history and “greatest achievements.”

    Now the Liberal Democrats have rebutted their “progressive” claims with: “Don’t let the Tories airbrush history” – pointing out a few things they missed.

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    Posted in Lib Dem TV | Tagged and | 7 Comments
    The Voice

    Our Shirl on how Ted Kennedy inspired the UK’s minimum wage

    By The Voice | Fri 4th September 2009 - 11:15 am

    Lib Dem peer Shirley Williams has a letter in today’s Times looking at the role of Democratic senator Edward Kennedy – and herself – in promoting a national minimum wage in the UK:

    I knew Ted Kennedy well as the chairman of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government … In 1989 and 1990 I was acting director of the institute. … The Senator and his staff had done a good deal of research into the minimum wage, research that showed conclusively that in the US it had not damaged employment

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged and | 3 Comments
    The Voice

    Nick and Ming speak out on Megrahi

    By The Voice | Wed 2nd September 2009 - 11:15 pm

    Nick Clegg, who has publicly opposed the Scottish executive’s decision to release convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi, today responded to the news that Gordon Brown – who has remained silent about the case until today – let it be known to the Libyan authorities via his foreign office ministers that the Prime Minister did not want Mr Al Megrahi to die in prison:

    The Foreign Secretary has now admitted that the British Government made its position on Megrahi’s release clear to the Libyans.

    “It is now clear that Gordon Brown felt able to share his feelings with a power-crazed

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 6 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Peter Black: Wales needs a holistic approach to mental health

    By The Voice | Mon 31st August 2009 - 2:45 pm

    Over at Wales Online, Lib Dem Welsh assembly member Peter Black, the party’s health spokesman, explains why an holistic approach to health-care is so vital. Here’s an excerpt:

    Mental health and wellbeing services have historically been under-resourced in Wales and throughout the UK. Such a position is surprising given the incidence of debilitating mental health problems among the population. The figures are striking – one in four of us will suffer from a mental illness at some point in our lives, and one in seven will suffer to a sufficient degree to warrant therapeutic intervention at some level.

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    The Voice

    Sandra Gidley: sofa, so good?

    By The Voice | Mon 31st August 2009 - 1:34 pm

    Old school, analogue politics demanded that constituents turn up to their MPs’ offices for surgeries if they were seeking their Parliamentarian’s help. Then came street surgeries, when elected representatives turned up their residents’ doorsteps to solicit casework.

    But Lib Dem Romsey MP Sandra Gidley has taken mobile surgery to a whole new level of comfort:

    The Sofa will be travelling around the Romsey and Southampton North constituency with Sandra Gidley MP. Come to one of Sandra’s Sofa Surgeries, Sit on the Sofa with Sandra, and sign the I’ve Sat on Sandra’s Sofa visitor book.

    Sandra’s sofa even has a website:

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    Posted in News | Tagged | 1 Comment
    The Voice

    Nick Clegg publishes his message for Ramadan

    By The Voice | Sun 30th August 2009 - 2:45 pm

    You can find it as Muslim News – here’s an excerpt:

    We in the Liberal Democrats have always championed religious tolerance, and we are proud of the diverse traditions in our country. We recognise the importance of the principle of Zakat to Muslims, especially at this time, and I deeply regret that Islam can be unfairly portrayed in many parts of the media especially when Muslim communities in this country do so much excellent charitable work.

    The full article is here.

    Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 17 Comments
    The Voice

    When Potholes Attack!

    By The Voice | Sat 29th August 2009 - 2:45 pm

    My thanks to LDV reader Andrew Harrison (with a hit-tip to b3ta) for bringing The Voice’s attention to the Glum Councillors website, which is dedicated to “doggedly collate images of councillors looking glum whilst pointing at holes in the road, wearing hard hats or presenting oversized cheques.”

    We can take pride in the fact, sort of, that so many Lib Dems are prominently represented. As Andrew notes, pavement politics at its finest.

    Posted in Humour and Local government | Tagged , and | Leave a comment
    The Voice

    Gordon Seekings steps down as councillor

    By The Voice | Wed 26th August 2009 - 6:11 pm

    Lib Dem Voice doesn’t note the resignations of all councillors, but Gordon Seekings – for 22 years Lib Dem councillor for Northgate in Crawley – will be well known to many from the party’s membership services. Here’s how Crawley News reports it:

    Cllr Gordon Seekings, who represented Northgate for 22 years, cited “personal reasons” for his departure. He left his Crawley Borough Council post immediately after the announcement, meaning Northgate will be missing one councillor until the by-election. …

    Cllr David Shreeves, deputy leader of the council’s Labour group, added: “Gordon’s efforts as a councillor have been very valuable to the

    …

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    Posted in Local government | Tagged and | 1 Comment
    The Voice

    New link to Lib Dem Blogs

    By The Voice | Sat 22nd August 2009 - 5:50 pm

    A small housekeeping announcement: when we revamped this site, we removed the list of links to the latest blog posts on Lib Dem Blogs as the list was slow to load, took up a lot  of space and only showed posts for a very short period of time (given the volume of posts over on Lib Dem Blogs).

    Many readers have said though that they appreciated the convenient links through to other Liberal Democrat blogs, so we are testing out a Lib Dem Blogs button in the right-hand column, just under the latest poll. This gives you a clickable pop …

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    Posted in Site news | 11 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Vince Cable: Banks pay up for their ‘crimes’, so why not rapists?

    By The Voice | Mon 3rd August 2009 - 5:15 pm

    Over at the Daily Mail, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable argues that Britain’s system of compensation awards is “mad”. Here’s an excerpt:

    … The real scandal, however, is the meanness of the criminal injuries and military compensation system. The Armed Forces scheme is now being, belatedly, reviewed. But criminal injury awards seem likely to remain not only pitifully small but severely restricted and tardy. I had to write angry letters to the Government agency dealing with criminal injuries when a constituent – an innocent bystander who had been attacked by gangsters throwing acid in a pub – had been waiting

    …

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    The Voice

    How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

    By The Voice | Mon 3rd August 2009 - 10:20 am

    The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people, just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.

    You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are three simple ways:

    1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there’s something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you’re an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or you’ve seen …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Site news | 1 Comment
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Nick Clegg: If they drag McKinnon to America, he will never come back

    By The Voice | Sat 1st August 2009 - 5:30 pm

    Over at the Daily Mail, Nick Clegg mounts an impassioned attack against the decision to allow Gary McKinnon – the man with Asperger’s Syndrome who has admitted to being an amateur computer-hacker – to be extradited to the USA. Here’s an excerpt:

    If he boards the plane to the U.S., it is almost certain he will never set foot on British soil again, doomed to pass out the rest of his days in shackles on a foreign shore. This is nothing short of a disgrace – and yet there is still one tiny glimmer of hope. Even now the courts have

    …

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 4 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Nick Clegg: Don’t leave the Liberal Democrats out of it

    By The Voice | Fri 31st July 2009 - 5:45 pm

    Over at The Independent, Nick Clegg (under a slightly unfortunately whiny headline not of his creating) puts the case for a televised debate between the leaders of the main political parties. Here’s an excerpt:

    A debate wouldn’t advantage a party; it would advantage the people. It would be the voters’ opportunity to see the leaders competing to be Prime Minister promoting their policies and answering difficult questions about how they’d change the country. It would bring in a wider audience than leaders could reach otherwise, giving more people the opportunity to make up their own minds based on the facts.

    If Gordon

    …

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 7 Comments
    The Voice

    Clegg on Chilcot: Blair and Brown must not escape Iraq inquiry spotlight

    By The Voice | Thu 30th July 2009 - 5:15 pm

    The man charged with heading the inquiry into the UK’s decision to go to war with Iraq, Sir John Chilcot, has today held a press conferenece to explain the timescales and the process under which it will operate:

    The “huge job” of going through vast amounts of material and evidence means the Iraq inquiry could continue into 2011 says chairman Sir John Chilcot.

    Launching the inquiry he said it would be “as open as possible” with hearings televised and streamed online. But he said some hearings would be held in private for national security reasons or to allow “more candour”. Sir John said Tony Blair would be among those asked to give evidence and he did not expect anyone to refuse to do so.

    There have been complaints that the inquiry, which will cover events from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, will not report back before the next general election.

    Nick Clegg wrote to Sir john Chilcot last month setting out the Lib Dems’ wishes for the inquiry, and has reponded to today’s announcement:

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    Posted in News | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Greg Stone: It’s time for the next Great Reform Act

    By The Voice | Thu 30th July 2009 - 4:00 pm

    Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free’s ‘A New Politics’ strand, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Newcastle East Greg Stone argues that we need to restore the health of our democracy by delivering fair voting to those dispossessed by a rotten system. You can read an excerpt here:

    … while there may not be fevered discussion about AV+, STV, or d’Hondt, there is an almost universal cry for political change from the voters I speak to. The view that two-party politics and a winner-takes-all electoral system are a fundamental part of the problem is at last becoming widespread. …

    Electoral reform would

    …

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 1 Comment
    The Voice

    Teather: “We need a massive increase in the number of social homes”

    By The Voice | Wed 29th July 2009 - 9:00 pm

    Here are the facts, as reported by The Guardian based on this research by housing charity Shelter:

    More than one million children in England now live in overcrowded homes, a rise of 54,000 in the last two years, a charity warned today. New figures released by Shelter highlight the record number of under-15-year-olds living in cramped conditions, with one in 10 children in overcrowded housing.

    The figures, calculated from the government’s annual Survey of English Housing, reveal the problem is particularly acute in London and among those living in social housing. One in five (331,000) children in London and one

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , and | 8 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… James Graham: We need a harder line on voting reform

    By The Voice | Wed 29th July 2009 - 8:10 pm

    Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free’s ‘A New Politics’ strand Lib Dem blogger James Graham argues that if Gordon Brown is serious about electoral reform Lib Dems should support him – but we must be wary of any proposed referendum. Here’s an excerpt:

    Moving to the alternative vote system might be an improvement but it is a baby step, hardly worth having a referendum over at all. Even the Jenkins-designed alternative vote plus is not without its problems. Developed 10 years ago in a failed attempt to appease Tony Blair, it is a classic example of triangulation politics. As such

    …

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    The Voice

    Our new look

    By The Voice | Wed 29th July 2009 - 7:08 am

    So, what do you think of it so far?

    Thanks to the herculean efforts of the The Voice’s Ryan, we’ve got a new look and new features. The biggest change on the home page is the introduction of three featured stories at the top, so that the best content can stay prominent for longer without being pushed aside by the latest blog posts.

    There are also many changes which reflect the declining proportion of our audience who sit at a computer and come to the home page. Whether you view the site on the move (new mobile version), like using a …

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    Posted in Site news | 22 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Terry Stacy: Councils must be transparent and accountable about surveillance

    By The Voice | Mon 27th July 2009 - 8:55 pm

    Well, it’s not quite an op-ed article, but there’s a detailed letter from Lib Dem leader of Islington Council, Cllr Terry Stacy, urges all councils to follow Islington’s example, and reject the local use of surveillance powers. Here’s an excerpt:

    … local government really is on the frontline of Britain’s expanding surveillance state – councillors and council leaders need to be held accountable for their decisions. Councillors must decide whether they embrace the surveillance society, or reject it and introduce checks and balances and public democratic oversight of the local use of surveillance powers, as the Liberal Democrats have done

    …

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    Posted in LibLink and Local government | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Vince Cable: Silver Power, the force that could save us

    By The Voice | Sun 26th July 2009 - 3:00 pm

    Over at the Daily Mail, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable argues that the British economy needs older workers. Here’s an excerpt:

    Since 2007, for the first time in British history, there have been more people over pension age than children. Every year there is a growth in the number of elderly people relative to the number of younger working people supporting them. Every Election there is an increase in the numbers of older voters relative to younger voters.

    These changes are of revolutionary importance. But whenever the subject of an ageing population is discussed, it is usually in pessimistic terms. Older

    …

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    Posted in LibLink | 4 Comments
    The Voice

    Norwich North by-election result: open thread #nnbe

    By The Voice | Fri 24th July 2009 - 12:52 pm

    Here’s the result of the Norwich North by-election. In spectacularly uncoordinated fashion, all the LDV team are otherwise occupied this afternoon – so use this thread to pass your comment on the result…

    The tension is clearly mounting over on Nich Starling’s twitter account, with the news expected “within five minutes” over half an hour ago.

    Meanwhile over on the BBC, the Lib Dems have been squeezed out of the report entirely, with the reporter on the spot still thinking Labour could come second:

    At the count in Norwich BBC correspondent Carole Walker said it looked as though Labour would come

    …

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    Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged | 81 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… John Shipley: Our record in power shows that we have vision and ambition

    By The Voice | Thu 23rd July 2009 - 7:00 pm

    Over at The Guardian today, Councillor John Shipley, Lib Dem leader of Newcastle city council, writes a robust response to Tristram Hunt’s partial (in every sense) attack on the Lib Dems’ record in local government. Here’s an excerpt:

    Tristram Hunt’s claim that the many cities and urban councils now run by Liberal Democrats lack the leadership and vision of Labour authorities such as Manchester and Glasgow is nonsense. … He fails to mention Newcastle upon Tyne at all. Lost by Labour to the Lib Dems in 2004, civic leadership flourishes here with a new £40m city library and investment in cultural

    …

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    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV: Alix Mortimer – Why is Clegg picking this quarrel now?

    By The Voice | Thu 23rd July 2009 - 4:34 pm

    Lib Dem blogger and LDV-editor-on-sabbatical Alix Mortimer writes for CiF about tuition fees and the Lib Dems.

    I wish people would let go of this idea that the pre-tuition fees era was some sort of egalitarian utopia. No system ever is.

    Even so, Nick Clegg’s suggestion that scrapping tuition fees be downgraded from a firm Lib Dem policy commitment to an “aspiration” makes me uneasy, and not just because of the Labour-flavoured wording. I cannot imagine why he thinks this particular quarrel is worth picking now.

    Read the piece here.

    Alix says: “Please note that the headline and byline are, as customary with …

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 10 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Lembit Opik: We need a cosmic plan

    By The Voice | Wed 22nd July 2009 - 6:15 pm

    Over at The Guardian, Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik returns to the subject whence he first came to public attention: the threat to the Earth of an asteroid impact. Here’s an excerpt:

    The discovery of what appears to be a large crater caused by an asteroid impact on Jupiter provides a graphic illustration of the destructive potential of this type of cosmic event. Sixty-five million years ago, the reign of the dinosaurs was brought to a fiery end by a cataclysmic impact with a 10km-wide asteroid. It will happen again – we just don’t know when. However, for the first time

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged | 9 Comments
    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Nick Clegg: MPs’ holiday betrayal

    By The Voice | Wed 22nd July 2009 - 5:31 pm

    Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website, Nick Clegg argues that a Westminster stitch-up has seen both main parties dodge reform demands in the dash for the recess door. Here’s an excerpt:

    If someone had told me two months ago, in the middle of the expenses scandal, that MPs would go on their summer break without having rewritten the rules of British politics, I wouldn’t have believed it. I thought the public demand for change was, for once, overwhelming. Yet, scandalously, that’s what’s happened. …

    It is easy to understand the resistance to reform from the Conservatives. Maintenance of the status

    …

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    The Voice

    CommentIsLinked@LDV… Paddy Ashdown: What we must do to win this war in Afghanistan

    By The Voice | Wed 22nd July 2009 - 12:15 pm

    Over at The Independent, former Lib Dem leader Lord (Paddy) Ashdown argues that the history of the Afghan war is one of continuous mistakes, and outlines the key factors which can transform defeat into success. Here’s an excerpt:

    I start from the proposition that the war in Afghanistan is one we have to fight and must win. The cost of failure there is just too great. It includes the certain fall of Pakistan and the possible emergence of the world’s first Jihadist Government with a nuclear weapon; the re-creation in Afghanistan of a lawless space open for the preparation and export

    …

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    Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 4 Comments
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    Recent Comments

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